During a classified briefing regarding Venezuela on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly offered lawmakers a distinct explanation for President Trump’s recent aggressive rhetoric concerning Greenland.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Rubio indicated that the President’s threats of military action are actually a leverage tactic aimed at convincing Denmark to sell the territory to the United States.
The clarification came in response to a direct inquiry from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Sources cited by the Journal state that Schumer pressed the Secretary of State on whether the Trump administration genuinely intends to follow through on threats to deploy military force in both Mexico and Greenland.
READ: ‘Not Just A Dog Sled’: Denmark Fires Back At Trump’s ‘Misinformation’ On Greenland Security
Rubio allegedly assured the room that, regarding Greenland, the posturing was part of a transactional strategy rather than a prelude to conflict.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) corroborated this interpretation in comments to the newspaper. Graham characterized the administration’s stance on the Arctic territory as strategic, stating that the threat to attack Greenland “is all about negotiations.”
Graham’s defense of the President’s unconventional diplomatic style highlights the significant shift in his relationship with Trump over the last decade. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Graham was among Trump’s fiercest critics, famously telling reporters that choosing between Trump and Senator Ted Cruz was “like being shot or poisoned.”
At that time, Graham also expressed deep skepticism regarding Trump’s foreign policy capabilities, calling him “the most unprepared person I’ve ever met to be commander-in-chief” and admitting that Trump’s rhetoric “scares the hell out of me.”
READ: White House: ‘Utilizing U.S. Military’ Is An Option For Greenland Acquisition
Despite those past assessments, Graham and other administration allies now appear to view the Greenland situation as a calculated maneuver to expand U.S. territory through pressure-based negotiation.
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